AVB backs Cameron stance

18 September 2013 07:47

Viewed : 677

Andre Villas-Boas thinks David Cameron's comments regarding chants including the word 'Yid' will be music to the ears of Tottenham fans.

The Prime Minister joined the debate surrounding chanting of the word on Tuesday, telling the Jewish Chronicle that Spurs supporters should not be prosecuted by the police, so long as they are not motivated by hate.

"There's a difference between Spurs fans self-describing themselves as Yids and someone calling someone a Yid as an insult," Cameron said.

"You have to be motivated by hate. Hate speech should be prosecuted - but only when it's motivated by hate."

Tottenham fans have called themselves "Yids" "Yiddos" or the "Yid Army" for many years as an act of defiance towards those who ridicule the club's links with the Jewish community.

The Football Association warned that such chanting could lead to a banning order or criminal prosecution, but the issue is muddied by the fact that police would have to prove the person chanting the Y-word did so with the idea of causing offence.

Tottenham insist there is no malice intended by the chanting, although they are planning to distribute a questionnaire to season ticket holders asking them if they think it is time to stop the chants.

On Wednesday, the club's manager Villas-Boas said he did not object to Cameron's involvement in the matter.

"He can get involved anywhere, he is the Prime Minister," Villas-Boas said.

"I think his intervention was probably what Spurs fans would want to hear.